According to AutoExpress, work on the next-generation Veyron will begin as production on the current version ends. You may ask yourself, after the Super Sport, how the Veyron can get any better. The answer, of course, lies in weight loss.

Before the new car hits the streets, it will head to the gym and emerge significantly lighter (the current Veyron weighs over 4,100 pounds) through the extensive use of lightweight alloys and carbon-composite materials.

Power for the next Veyron will probably come from the same 8.0-liter W16 quad-turbo engine tuned to propel the newly svelte beast to…get ready for this… 270 miles per hour.

While VW Group technically loses money on each Veyron it builds, the bragging rights (and media coverage) it receives for building the world’s fastest production vehicle easily makes up for the lost dollars.

If AutoExpress is correct, the new Bugatti Veyron will appear in all its warp-speed glory sometime in 2013.

With all the hybrid hype lately, it’s good to see that some common sense prevails at Bugatti and will give speed freaks and gearheads something to be excited about.

Should the Veyron be left to die, or are you excited that there may be a new version?

5 Comments

The Veyron, to me, looks like the 2030 Ford Edsel— high style ugly, like Helena Bonham Carter at the Golden Globes. I can’t see anything wrong with supercars, per se, other than the fact that they are the automotive equivalent of artificially pumped-up celebrities like Arnold Schwartznegger and Pam Anderson. What’s the point of having a car that’s so expensive and over-endowed that it’s virtually undrivable? 20 minutes in the Veyron on Michigan roads would land you in the emergency room peeing blood.

The older I get, the less infatuated I am with supercars, speed and testosterone (excepting moderate amounts of the latter). I am definitely on your side in this instance, and while tgriffith has the boundless enthusiasm of youth for these unattainable, ridiculous vehicles, I find them interesting only as occasional curiosities, maybe sometimes for their engineering feats, or the fact that very rich people are stupid enough to buy them. They do not turn me on, and I’d a lot rather dive off the cliffs at Acapulco.

Having said that, I think you and I are at one end of the audience spectrum for this blog, and I would bet there are far more of the younger, speed-crazed set in our demographic (judging by the tone and frequency of comments on our posts and those on most other car sites) than us oldsters. So what? I write for guys like you and me, and people who take cars of all kinds seriously, even Priuses and Accords. Sure, they are boring for the most part, but the car industry is not, and that is one area I keep trying to cover.

Still, I’m enough of a car fanatic that I refuse to drive the truly boring and predictable products that most of us are forced into. Right now, I am living comfortably in Mexico without any car at all. I would rather rent something fun or buy an old clunker if I need to, though that preference may change. For you folks in the U.S. who need and depend on a car daily, our blog needs to be more aware of what you can hope for and what you have to settle for.

I like tgriffith’s response above. And he’s certainly right that it would be deadly awful to write about Camrys, etc. all the time. I just don’t get the passion for supercars that moves him. At this age, I depend on other fantasies.

Thanks once again for all your thoughtful comments and the compliments.

@ panayoti
True, supercars “can’t be driven, can’t be insured, don’t get reasonable gas mileage, don’t provide a comfortable driving experience, and are largely unaffordable for everyone but a millionaire.” Absolutely true. Also true that the demographic of this blog is not millionaires (though we do hear from quite a few teens).

So why do why cover cars like this? A few reasons.
Look at the last four posts on this blog. We covered: A new Ford SUV, potential new pickups from Toyota and Jeep, new hybrid Prius models and the rise of Hyundai’s American offerings. All appealing to many, everyday American carbuyers.

The American auto industry, in all its glorious and not-so-glorious past, has one common denominator: the ability to increase the heart rate of car lovers across this country; even around the world. It’s the reason Chevy builds the ZR1 and Dodge has its Viper. Not because any average Joe can walk into a dealership and buy one, but because merely being associated with such a halo car is often good enough.

Supercars like the Veyron fuel a passion for cars that, quite frankly, would dry up pretty quick if all we had were Accords, Camrys and Lacrosses.

Then there’s the writer’s point of view. If all I was able to write about everyday, six days a week, were the cars most people could afford, I don’t think I’d last very long. Writing stories about supercars, every once in a while, provides the ability to dive into a world I’ll likely never be able to live in all the time. It’s like a brief escape from reality and I hope readers take that leap with me.

Stories about supercars may not be relevant to all readers all the time, but without them, what’s left keep the passion for cars alive and well?

R I P. Especially to the mags and blogs who continue to live in fantasy land about their perception that there is a large body of readers who just can’t wait to hear or read about the latest Supercars that can’t be driven, can’t be insured, don’t get reasonable gas mileage, don’t provide a comfortable driving experience, and are largely unaffordable for everyone but a millionaire. When will this obsession correlating testosterone, speed and power end?? It seems that a week doesn’t go by here where an article about these Supercars isn’t breathlessly posted.

Look, I would love to drive one of these cars for the reason that I’m sure is the basis for these articles. Yes, there is a “rush” and a feeling of “power” that accompanies the driving experience. All of us probably share that “fantasy” we all had as teenagers and young adults. I would love to spend a week with Beyonce and would love to bunge jump off the New River gorge or dive off the cliffs at Acapulco. For sure that would induce a rush, but how practical and probable is that?? I’m pretty sure the demographic for this blog is not teenagers or millionaires. Most of us have seen our better days and would prefer a good glass of wine, a fine dining experience and a good crap afterward.

As mentioned many times before, I admire and envy the work you guys do here on a daily basis. Most readers here don’t really appreciate the effort put forth here daily to amuse and stimulate discussion for those of us looking for a different perspective. Sadly, most of us drive boring, comfortable cars like the Accord, Camry, and Lacrosse for largely economic reasons. Horsepower, speed, lateral g forces, and 0-60 times are not part of our buying decisions. Yet, this is your demographic and that is the part that I don’t understand. The obsession with these Supercars doesn’t seem to fit that demographic, so I would challenge you guys to respond to my whining with a treatise justifying your raison d’etre for these articles. That should provoke some discussion here and be good for both of us.